Submarine.



A. HOAR.

SUBMARKNE.

APPLICAT'IQN FILED APR. 30, 1915.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

nucnhw A. HOAR.

SUBMARINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.30, I9I5.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- SHOT/mu ng' valve.'; I

- view of the same takenon the line Vl[VI, 'Fig'. 5. .Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal 'sectional viewofa submarine, showing dia- "grammatically the embodiment of my im proved constructionc'anda general arrange-y,:=

'connection" 39-commumcates, and at 44 1s rine's, of which the following is a specification. i

; re'sponding partsin the several views. v 1 f. In Figs. 1 and 2showing the combined ex- FFIQ.

HOAR, OF. LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ABNEIt R. NEFF, OF I405 ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SUBMARINE.

Ta all whom it may concern zen of the United States, residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and- State' of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Subma- My invention relates to improvements in' propelling mechanisms for submarines,

,more particularly of-that type disclosed-in Letters Patent to. John M. Cage, No. 1,126,616, dated Jan. 25, 19.15, and in applications filed by me March 5, 1915, Serial No.

12,2 1, and April 9, 1915,. Seria1"'No."20,279,

and has for its main objectito provide a certain modified form of power plant, involving an exhaust pump similar to that of the said systems, but having forits. main difference .an air motor attachment, for driving it, thus utilizing the mechanical energy contained in the compressed air stored, and conserving for thepropulsion of the ship en gine-power which was formerly expended in driving the exhaust pump.

My invention also embodies certain de-' tailed improvements ashereinafter Will be more definitely pointed out and claimed. I

In theaccom-panying drawings :'-Fi 'gnre 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the exhaust pump and air motonembodying l my improved construction. Fig. 2 isia transverse sectional view of the exhaust pump and air. motor, taken on the line II'II, Fig. 1."Fig. 3 is anenlarged sec tional view showing in detail the compressed air heater. Fig. 4 is-an enlarged-sectional new-showmg 1n detail the constructlon of a combined exhaust mufiier. and 'oil separator.-

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of an improved combination tun ng and distribut- Flg. 6 is a transverse sectlonal ment thereof. A. p p S1m1lar numerals. of reference denote corhaus t pump and air motor in -det'ail,"'10 indi- Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed April 30,

. Patented eb.22,1916.

1915., Serial No. 24,963.

and 13 indicatefintake and exhaust valves respectlvely, of any suitable automatic type.

14 indicates the "double acting pump cylin-- ders,-15 the pump pistons, l5 -the pump piston rods, 16the water jacket, and 17 -indi-. cates packing glands At 18 are shown cross-heads of a special construction, each having a lower hoop-shaped"portion l8 pendant from the wristpin 19, to which the p ston rods 27 of-the' air motor cylinders 24 are rigidly connected, and to which said cross-heads transmit their, motion. The connecting rods 21 and the crank. pins 22 re-u I volve within the hoop-shaped portions 18*" of the-cross-heads l8, and have an oscillating motion with respect to it. At 20 is shown the cross-head guides, at 23 a centrallydisposed-flywheel, and 34 indicates the engine-frame. The motor cylinders 24 are fitted with valve mechanisms consisting -"of the slide valves 26, the .valverods 3 3, the

valverod guidesi32', the eccentric rods 31,

and the eccentrics 30: "However, any suit able type of valve mechanism ,may be substituted in plaiceof. thez sli'de'valvesshowm nectingto the engine crank shaft 'i' 2'8 and 29 indicatefiange couplings for con cates'thecasing of an' airheater, 36'an inlet denser'outside the hull.

. :In Fig, 3 the referenceinumeral -35Q indiconnection for the piping leading from the air storage reservoir, and at {-39 is shown a connection for the hot air pipmg leadmg to the air;motor cylinders 24. 40 is an annular f receiver or relay chamber in which the compressed air is first heated by coming 1n contact with the hot inner walls, from which air passes downwardto the bottom chamber- 41, and from thence to the tubes 42, which cause the air when passing therethrough to.

be brought to a correspondingly higher tern greater heating surface. At 43 'is shown' an upper air receiving chamber, with which 'perature by reason of the comparatively shown a'baflle which causes the hot exhaust gases'from the combustion engine to "circus late throughout the entire chamber 45 separating .device, wherein the reference "numeral 54 indicates the casing of the same,

being provided at" the exhaust of the ainnotor' leading to the distributing pipes. At 61 in the bottom of the chamber 57 is shown a connection for draining off the oil deposited therein. I InFigs. and 6, the reference numeral 46 indicates the valve body of my improved cates a revoluble valve core,

nection to cates the. conning gas distributing and timing device, 47 indi- 48 the inlet porttherein, 49the outlet ports, 51a conthe main exhaust discharge line 11, (Fig. 7), and50 connections leading from the ports 49 to the air inlet valves 72 of the combustion engine. At the end of the spindle shaft of the core 47 is a flange 52 for attaching to the vertical time shaft 69 of the combustion engine 66, said shaft 69 being caused to revolve, by means of the spiral gears 70, from the crank shaft 71, as is the usual practice in engines of this type.

In Fig( 7, the reference numeral 7 inditower of a submarine, 8

the superstructure and '9 the hull. At 63 are shown ventilating air outlet boxes, at

64 compressed air storage tanks, and at 65 a manifold connection to the tanks 64. An

' internal combustion engine for propelling the ship is indicated at 66-, 67 being the exhaust manifold of the same and 72 the air intake valves. At 73 are indicated the headers of the exhaust gas cooler and condenser, and at 7 4 the circulating tubes thereof.

A general description of the operation is as follows: Compressed air from the storage tanks 64 is led through the manifold 65 and piping 38 to the reheater 35, the presslowing up sure being first reduced, by passage through the pressure reducing valve 38, from the storage pressure of the reservoir to any suitable working pressure', say 150 pounds per square inch. The enlarged chamber 40 of the reheater 35 serves to act as a receiver, the velocity of the' air in passing therethrough, and thereby giving it sufficient time properly to be heated. The heat is supplied to the chamber, by passing the exfound to be at a temperature of about 800 degrees F.) directly from the exhaust manifold 67 through the' reheater 35, entering atthe connection 36, passinginto" the chamber 45 which surrounds the air' tubes 42, around the baiile 44,

45, and then passes and up through the it is exposed'to a greater heating surface, to

. which the velocity and out through the connection The compressed air entering "at 3.8 is firstheated by contact with the hot walls of the chamber down into chamber 41 hot tubes 42, in which expel the gases in the pump cylinders 14 against the outside water presoverboard sure, the air is exhausted from the motor i into the muffler 54 in of the air is checked by thejenlarged area thereof. .and further by the baffles 59. A great part of the oil with which the entering airis laden is deposited in the bottom of the chamber 57 by this sudden checking of its velocity, and the air continuing its course through the screen 58 and the baffles 59, still further is relieved of the particles of oil sion by the contact and scrubbing action of the baffles 59, the remaining oil being deposited on them and drained off into the lower portion of the chamber, from which it may be drawn 61. The expansion and checking of the flow through the piping 'of the air in the muffler 54 causes it to issue from the connections with an even flow After exand moisture held in suspenoff through the connection and with all periodic explosive noises eliminated. From the muffler 54 the air is led through the piping 60 to the various points of the ship at which ventilation is desired, and is admitted into the interior of the vessel at atmospheric pressure through the out let boxes The air then is-used to support the combustion in the cylinders of the main engines as is done in the Letters Patent to Uage hereinbefore referred to, or may be used to support the combustion in the fire box of the boiler shown in my application, Serial No. 12,281 hereinbefore referred to.

The cycle of operation of this system is completed 'by passing the after leaving the reheater 35, through a cooling and condensing apparatus outside the hull, indicated by the headers 73 and the tubes 74, and then by means of the pipe 10 drawing them into the pump cylinders 14, wherein they are compressed to a pressure somewhat above that of the outside water pressure and discharged overboard 11 and the check valve 11. By means of the cooling apparatus outside the hull, using the open sea as a cooling agent, a great shrinkage in the volume of the gas is effected, and thereby a correspondingly smaller. pump is neede and a resultant reduction in the power consumed in its expulsion overboard;

' My'method of reheating the air and then through the piping exhaust gases, 7

' using it to'perform the work of operating the exhaust pump, accomplishes, first, an economy of energy by regaining a portion of the energy which was originally expend- ,ed inv compressing the air from theatmosenergy regained over that necessary to per-' form the work of expelling the exhaust gases; thirdly, by utilizing the heat of the exhaust gases'for the purpose of reheating the compressed air-before use, it serves to, 1 regain some of the heat units normally wasted byvthe engine, and transpose them into useful work in thercylinders of the air motor. ,Thegreat economy, however, is in the great savingof air used, and therefore a corresponding increase in the radius of action submerged, which I have effected in a manner as follows:.-'As is: well'known,

internal combustion engines draw into their cylinders considerably more air than is necessary completely to consume in combustion all the fuel .injectedinto the cylinder with it, vand analysis of the exhaust gas shows-that a. large percentage of it is still pure air. 7' In Figs. 5 and 6,1 have shown in detail afdevice for-regulating and distributing a {certain portion" of these gases after being cooled and purified to some extent, back into the engine cylinders along with a charge ofgfresh' air. The operation is as follows: the core of the valve 47 is revolved within the casing 46 by being attached to the revolving ti'me'shaft 69 of the engine by the flange connection 52, thus bringing the port 48 into contact with the outlet. orts/i9 in rotation and synchronizing with the timing of the opening of the air intake valves of the engine. A portion of the cool exhaust gas is admitted to the valve by the piping 51. leading from the outboard exhaust discharge line 11. In the piping 51 is placed a pressure reducing valve 51 for reducing the-pressure fromthat of discharge down to say eight, or 'nine pounds, at which pressure it is introduced into the engine cylinders in rotationthrough the valve 46 and the piping 50, ashas beenexplained. In this manner fiitis'possible toregulate theamount of fresh 1i? admitted to the engine cylinders to say one and 'onehalf times that theoretically neces'sary to support-a complete combustion of'the fuel inj'ectedftherein, WhlCh 1n practice has been shown is the correct amount to only bethat amount-0f air which in addition to the amountalready-in' the cylinders completely will .fill them,*and by my device this is regulated by the amount of exhaust gas admitted, This regulation of the amount of by Letters Patent, is

exhaust gas admitted is accomplished by the length of time the ports 48 and 49-cover one another with reference to the length of time of the intake stroke of the engine, or in other words, through that portion of the stroke during which these ports cover one another, andby the pressure at which the gas is admitted, governed at will by the pressure reducing valve 51. It will be understood that the above operation applies pnly to combustion engines wherein ameasured'charge of fuel is injected, such as in oil engines. With this type of engine, the

supply of fuel will be constant and the supply of air will be regulated by, the amount of'exhaus .gas admitted. Theair motor may also e used as a starting engine for the combustion engine when starting up or reversing.

While I have shown and described my present invention as' applied to a submarine in which the motive power is an internal combustion engine, -,I wish it to be under stood that I contemplate its use in connection with'a steam engine and boiler, such as 'disclosedin my application-filed March 5,

1915, Serial' No. 12,281, and in this counection, in usingthe term combustion power plant intend that the scope of the same shall be to cover not only internal combustion engines but also steam engine power plants, or in fact any form of engine requiring combustion to create the driving power.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure 1. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combus tion power plant in said compartment, means for discharging overboard the products of combustion, air storage means, and means driven through the energy of the compressed airin said air storage means for operating said discharge means.

2. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant in said compartment, means for discharging overboard the products of combustion, air storage means, and means driven through the energy of the compressed air in said air storage means for operating said discharge means, the exhaust air from said driving means discharging into the interior of-the vessel for the purposes'of ventilation and to support the combustion in the power plant.

3. In a submarine, incombination, a hull' having an-engine compartment, a combustion power plant in said compartment, an

exhaust,pump for expelling overboard the burnt gases from the power plant, air

storage means, and an air motor driven by the energy of the compressed air insaid air storageimeans for operating said pump, the

exhaust air from said air motor discharging into the interior of the vessel for the purposes of ventilation and to support the combustion in the power plant.

4:. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant in said compartment, an exhaust pump for expelling overboard the burnt gases from the combustion power plant, an air motor for operating said pump, and a combined muffler and oil separator receiving the exhaust air from said motor and discharging the air thendeinto from the 'combustion'power plant, an air' the interior of the vessel for the purposes of ventilation and to support the combustion in the combustion power plant. a

5. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant in said compartment, cooling and condensing apparatus for theprodnets of combustion, a pump for discharging overboard the products of combustion, air

storage means, and means driven by the .energy of compressed air in said air storage means for operating said pump.

6. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant in said compartment, a compressed air reservoir, an exhaust pump for expelling overboard the burnt gases from the combustion power plant, an air motor for operating said pump, said motor being supplied from said compressed air reservoir, and a reheater for receiving and of the combustion power plant and the re-' heater for allowing the hot exhaust gases to be used for heating the compressed air in its passage through the reheater.

8. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant insaid compartment, a

compressed air reservoir, an exhaust pump for expelling overboard the burnt gases motor for operating said pump, said motor being supplied from said compressed air v reservoir, a combined mufiler and oil sepacopies or this patent may beobtained for rator into which the exhaust; from said air motor discharges and from which it dis charges into the interior of the submarine for the purposes of ventilation and to support the combustion in the cylinders of the combustion power plant, and a reheater. for receiving and heating the compressed-"air in its passage between the reservoir and the air motor.

9. In a submarine, in combination, a hull having an engine compartment, a combus-.

tion power plant in said compartment, a compressed air reservoir, an exhaust pump for expelling overboard the burnt gases from the combustion power plant, an air motor for operating saidpump, said motor being supplied from said compressed air reservoir, a combined ;muflier and oil sepa rator into which'the exhaust from said air motordischarges and from which it dis-'.

charges into the interior of the" submarine for the purposes of ventilation and to support the combustion in the power plant, a reheater for receiving and heating the compressed air ,in its passage between .the res-' QIVOII and the air motor, and connect ons between the exhaust, manifold of the combustion power plant and the reheater for allowing the hot exhaust gases of the engine to be used for heating the compressed air in its passage through the reheater.

10. In a submarine, in combination,- a hull having an enginecompartment, a. combus-' tion' power plant in vsaid compartment, a compressed air reservolr, means for coohng and condensing the productsof-combustion,

and an air motor, driven exhaust pump for expelling overboard said'products ofcombustion, said motor being supplied from said compressedair reservoir,

11. In a submarine, in combination, ahull having an engine compartment, a combustion power plant in saidcompartment for propelling the submarine, cooling apparatus for condensing the products of combustion therefrom, a pump to expel overboard these products of combustion, a compressed air res'ervoir, an air motor having connections with said; air reservoir -for' driving said pump, means for heating the compressed air in its passagebetween said'reservoir and motor, said means utilizing. the heat; of theproductsof combustion from the power plant, and means forcleaning'and dischargingthe exhaust air from the compressed air, motor into the engine; compartment.

In testimony whereof -I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of April, 1915.

ALLEN HOAR.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner-:0! Eaten ts, Washington, D. G. 

